Chapter Two
Around noon the road widens. Fili falls back to ride alongside me. We're silent for a moment before we both turn to each other talking at the same time. I make him go first. "Will you tell me what happened to your arms," he asks. My breath catches. Should I tell him? Will he ever look at me the same again? I guess it's worth a risk.
"Promise me you won't tell anyone," I demand. He nods his head. I glare pointedly at him. He holds his hands up as he nods again as if to say, "Honest, I won't." I sigh satisfied when I begin, "I do it to myself. I'm tormented where I come from. People there beat me and I can't raise a hand against them. I hate that I can't stand up to them so every time they abuse me I hide away in my room and cut. One for each of my tormentors." Fili stares at me shocked as my words sink in. Then, before my very eyes, his face hardens as his hands tighten into fists.
He growls, "I will never let someone harm you again." I stare at him eyes wide and mouth agape. I can't believe this. He didn't react at all the way I thought he would. He blinks at me a couple times as his face softens, "You are a kind woman. I don't understand how someone would want to hurt you." His words make my heart stir. I smile at him warmly receiving a warm smile in return. We continue to talk as the day passes.
Soon it is late afternoon and Thorin calls for us to halt for the night. I climb down from my pony without help and proceed to help Bombur and Bofur with the food. It's delicious once it's finished. I pass out bowls of the steaming soup to the hungry waiting Dwarves. As they taste it they chorus that it' very good to the two men. Bofur laughs, "We didn't cook it, lads, Violet did." thirteen sets of eyes turn toward me. I blush a deep crimson.
"Where did you learn to cook, lass," Dwalin calls.
I shrug, "I taught myself how to cook." They all nod appreciatively at me as they continue to eat. I sit down leaning against the stones we stopped to camp by with a smug grin on my face. I am a pretty damn good cook. I chuckle to myself. Everyone passes in their bowls when they finish eating. The Dwarves scatter each doing their own thing. Fili and Kili sit near me on my side of the fire.
A screech in the distance causes me to sit up straight as fear tingles down my spine. "What was that," Bilbo asks.
"Orcs," Kili answers.
I squeak, "Orcs?"
"Throat-cutters. There'll be dozens of them out there. The lone-lands are crawling with them," Fili explains looking at me.
His brother continues, "They strike in the wee small hours when everyone's asleep. Quick and quiet, no screams. Just lots of blood." They look at each other and chuckle
"You think that's funny," Thorin demands, "You think a night raid by Orcs is a joke?" He glares at his nephews angrily.
Kili states, "We didn't mean anything by it."
"No, you didn't," Thorin growls, "You know nothing of the world." The two brothers look down contritely. I want to comfort them, but their uncle is right that they shouldn't joke about something like that so I abstain. I gaze out across the distance as Balin tells Bilbo and the two young Dwarves of Thorin's reason to hate Orcs as much as he does.
Before I know it I'm being shaken awake by Fili. A smirk curves his lips on one side as he hands me a blanket. I squint at him in the fire light as I take it and cover myself to go back to sleep.
The last two and a half days it has done nothing but rain. I look up at the dark clouds wishing for the rain to stop. After a hurried breakfast everyone climbs back into the saddle to ride another entire day. We're back to single file as the road through the woods narrows. I take myself to a happy place to get my mind off the weather. Several hours pass as I imagine myself sunbathing on a faraway beach away from bad weather and worse people. That's when I notice that I no longer feel rain running down my back or through my hair. It snaps me out of my daydream. The sun shines through the leaves as the clouds depart. I breathe a happy sigh.
As I'm finally drying out we come upon a burned out farmhouse. The grass looks unkept and it looks like nobody has lived there for quite a long time. "We'll camp here for the night," Thorin orders, "Fili, Kili, look after the ponies. Make sure you stay with them. Oin, Gloin, get a fire going."
Gandalf advises, "I think it would be wiser to move-on." There's a worried look in his eyes that set my nerves instantly on high alert. I begin to look around as everyone else sets up camp. I follow Fili and Kili into the woods leading a few ponies into the trees. Once their settled I say farewell and make my way back to camp. When I reach the others there is a fire going and Bombur is beginning to cook.
Bilbo and Bofur chatter as the Dwarf dishes out two bowls of stew. Handing them to Bilbo he says, "Here, do us a favor. Take this to the lads." Bilbo turns away and walks up the hill. Bofur turns back toward the pot and smacks Bombur across the knuckles fussing, "Stop it. You've had plenty." I chuckle at the two as a couple of the others compliment the food. They continue to banter as everyone finishes their food.
I go to refill my bowl as Fili comes barreling down the hill breathless. "Trolls have Bilbo and the ponies," he exclaims skidding to a stop by the fire. Everyone drops what they're doing, including their bowls of stew, and charge up the hill. I follow hot on their heels afraid of what exactly a troll looks like. In the forest we run toward the light of a fire.
"Drop him," I hear Kili yell.
"You what?"
Kili repeats, "I said drop him." Bilbo yells as I watch him get tossed into Kili. Everybody else explodes from the brush and attacks the three huge ugly creatures. I stay where I am thinking it would be smarter for me to stay out of the way because I'm unarmed. The fight seems to be going in our favor until two of the trolls dangle the poor Hobbit by his arms and legs spread eagle style.
"Lay down your arms," one of them demands, "Or we'll rip his off." The Dwarves drop their weapons and stand there as the trolls strip and stuff them one by one into bags.
Once they are all vulnerable half of the group is placed on a spit and placed over the fire. "Don't bother cooking them," one says, "Let's just sit on them and squash them into jelly."
Another comments, "They should be sautéed and grilled with a sprinkle of sage."
"That does sound quite nice," the first agrees.
The third grumbles, "Nevermind the seasoning. We ain't got all night. Dawn ain't far away. Let's get a move on. I don't fancy being turned to stone."
"Wait," Bilbo yells, "You are making a terrible mistake." I stiffen as he draws attention to himself as I'm standing not far away in the shadows.
Dori calls, "You can't reason with them. They're half-wits."
"Half-wits? What does that make us," Bofur counters. I cover my mouth to keep from giggling. In the shadows on the other side of the fire I see movement and a large grey shape. Gandalf.
Bilbo continues, "I meant with the seasoning."
"What about the seasoning," he's asked.
He answers, "Well, have you smelled them? You're gonna need something stronger than sage before you plate this lot up." The Hobbit's words rile the Dwarves up some of them even calling him a traitor. I cock my head slowly seeing Bilbo's plan form in my head. He's playing for time. I smile at the audacity of the little person.
"What do you know about cooking Dwarf?"
"Shut up," the second troll snaps, "Let the flurgaburburhobbit talk."
Bilbo stutters, "The secret to cooking Dwarf is to skin them first."
"What a load of rubbish. I've eaten plenty with their skins on. Scarf them, I say, boots and all." Bilbo looks over at the large boulder behind the trolls. I follow his line of sight and see Gandalf's figure moving around.
The first trolls growls, "He's right. Nothing wrong with a bit of raw Dwarf. Nice and crunchy."
"Not that one," Bilbo yells, "He's infected."
"You what?"
"Yeah, he's got worms in his tubes," the Hobbit declares, "In fact, they all have. They're infested with parasites. It's a terrible business. I wouldn't risk it. I really wouldn't."
Oin asks in disbelief, "Parasites? Did he say 'parasites'?"
"We don't have parasites. You have parasites," Kili barks. I roll my eyes toward heaven at their dimness. Why can't they see that Bilbo is trying to save them the best way he knows how? Suddenly they're all going along with what the Hobbit is doing. Thorin must have figured out what Bilbo is trying to do.
The second troll growl, "What would you have us do, then? Let them all go?"
"Well…"
"You think I don't know what you're up to? This little ferret is taking us for fools."
"Ferret?"
"Fools?"
Gandalf bellows from his place atop the boulder, "The dawn will take you all."
"Who's that?"
The third troll shrugs, "No idea."
"Can we eat him too," the first one asks. Gandalf raises his staff and slams the end of it onto the top of the rock. Its splits in half the two parts falling away from each other. The early morning light turns the three trolls to stone. Relieved I come out of my hiding place to assist the poor Dwarves out of their bonds.
Dwalin demands, "Where were you, lass?"
"I stayed hidden," I reply. I hold up a hand stopping Dwalin from berating me. "I was unarmed and would have only been in the way." He nods accepting my explanation. I turn to help some of the others get back into their clothes trying not to giggle at how ridiculous they all look in their skivvies.
Bofur compliments, "Beautiful and smart. A dangerous combination in a woman." I laugh at the Dwarf gaining a chuckle in return.
With everyone fully garbed again Thorin leads us into the trees and down a semi-steep hill. When I reach the bottom I turn away from the cave entrance gagging at the horrendous smell. Balin pats me on the back sympathetically before entering the cave to look around. Sucking it up I follow my companions inside. It smells even worse in here. Everyone looks around at the gold and weapons just sitting around covered in cobwebs. "Violet," Fili calls, "Come over here."
I turn and walk over to where the young Dwarf stands. He hands me a sword it's long and thin. There's hardly any weight to it at all. Pulling the blade from the sheath partially I see markings on the blade. I don't recognize what they are, but shrug and place it back snuggly in the sheath. "Thank you, Fili," I smile. He blushes as we make our way back outside. The company is gathered outside the entrance just milling about.
"Something's coming," Thorin calls.
Gandalf orders, "Stay together. Hurry now! Arm yourselves!" I draw my sword nerves making my hand shake.
"Thieves! Fire! Murder," a crazy looking old man dressed all in brown yells as he bursts out of the foliage on a sled drawn by rabbits.
Gandalf sighs, "Radagast. It's Radagast the Brown. What on earth are you doing here?'
"I was looking for you Gandalf," Radagast replies. I sheath my sword with a relieved sigh as they walk away to talk. Fili smiles a knowing grin at me. I let my shoulders sag to show him the extent of the relief I feel. I take a seat on a large rock as the Dwarves mill about waiting for Gandalf.
Howls erupt in the distance. The hair on the back of my neck stands on end as my skin tingles. I don't like the sound of that. "Was that a wolf," Bilbo asks frightened, "Are there wolves out there."
Bofur stammers, "Wolves? No, that is not a wolf." I can hear something growling from behind me. I turn to look just as a huge ugly wolf-like creature charges down the hill heading right for me. Thorin draws his sword and swings just as I dive out of the way. I climb to my feet shaking in fear. Fili steps beside me to make sure I'm alright when another one leaps into the clearing toward Thorin. Kili fires an arrow that lands right in the middle of its forehead.
"Warg Scouts. Which means an Orc pack is not far behind," Thorin states.
Bilbo asks stunned, "Orc pack?"
"Who did you tell about your quest beyond your kin," Gandalf demands.
"No one."
"Who did you tell?!"
"No one, I swear. What in Durin's name is going on?"
"You are being hunted," Gandalf tells him.
Dwalin states, "We have to get out of here." Obviously.
"We can't. We have no ponies. They bolted," Ori whines. We all turn to look at him and Bifur as they come to the top of the hill.
Radagast offers, "I'll draw them off."
"These are Gundabad Wargs. They will outrun you," Gandalf rebuffs.
Radagast counters, "These are Rhosgobel rabbits. I'd like to see them try." We wait at the tree line for Gandalf to give us the signal. He motions for us to follow him and takes off running. From my place behind Kili I run as fast as my legs will go. Fili is soon passing me. He glances at me. I can see fear in his eyes. I'm breathless and begin to lag. Fili holds his hand out to me. I grab it allowing him to half drag me along his path.
We stop behind a large grouping of rock. I thump against the hard material gasping for air. I watch horrified as Kili notches an arrow on his bow. He steps out aims and shoots a Warg atop the rocks. It tumbles to the ground. Dwalin and Bifur kill the Orc that was riding it. The screeches of the two draw the attention of the rest of the Orc pack. "Move," Gandalf yells, "Run!" I do just that pumping my legs as hard as I can following my companions across the open expanse of land.
Soon there is no place for us to run. I stop breathless and turn in a circle. We're surrounded! All I can hear is my blood roaring in my ears and my heart beat. When I turn again I see Thorin jump into a crevice between the rocks before me. I run toward it and as I bunch my muscles to jump into the hole I feel a burning sensation tear across my back. I fall into the hole with a pain-filled scream. I roll down the decline toward the chatter of the Dwarves. I stop at the bottom lying on my stomach pain searing through my body starting in my back. I groan. I can faintly feel hands on my arms bringing me up onto my knees.
"A Warg got her," Balin states. I open my eyes to look at the person that has stopped in front of me. The image swims, but I can see the worry and panic in Fili's face. I try to reassure him that I'll be fine. No words leave my mouth. He bends lifting me over his shoulder. As he stands I see black dots dancing across my vision. We start to move along a path as my world goes black.